Goats! Goats! Goats!

Well here we are, one more full day of work on the farm before we leave.  As cranky as some of the projects got us (don't get me started on mucking stalls) we are going to be very sad to leave this place.  Heather and Neil have been so good to us and we really hope to stay in touch with them.  We have also become quite attached to all the animals here.  We are going to miss them so much.  Well, maybe not so much the pigs but we will be yearning for those goats for a long time.  We know their names (well, most of them) and they know us and it has been such a trip to hang out with those beautiful and hilarious creatures.

I mean, seriously, what's not to love?

This is Nora.  She is one of the "teenagers", which in goat years means that she was born last year.  She is the only floppy eared goat on the farm.  The reason is that she was not born on the farm so she is of no relation to any of the other teenage girls.  Apparently this was once a problem but is not so much anymore.  This is one seriously cool goat.

Speaking of goats, there have been three more additions to the farm since the last update.  Yesterday, Fantasy gave birth to a single kid, an adorable girl named Fleur.  Krissy and I actually got to see the whole thing go down, right before our eyes.  Watching a goat give birth is one of the most intense things you can witness but it is also one of the most amazing.  One of the main things we wanted to see during our week here was a birth and we got it and all went so well.  Today, Pangaea gave birth to two kids, a boy and a girl.  She was starting into labor this morning and when Krissy and I finished up work, we showered and ran into Mahone Bay for a bit.  We weren't gone but 45 minutes and when we got back there were babies.  Very exciting.  The most exciting bit is the very beginning of their lives.  The mother licks them totally clean and then they start trying to stand up on their own.  Within twenty minutes or so they are totally upright and starting to take their first steps.  Soon after that they begin nursing (though usually they have to be guided to the teat).  A couple hours later and they've mastered walking and even start jumping a bit.  It is an amazing process to witness.

This is baby Fleur, born around noon yesterday.  She is an adorable little thing and her mom is doing a great job.

I would love to show you guys a good picture of baby Marcus, who was born Friday morning, but mama Maraika, the most intense helicopter mom on the planet, says NO.

The other babies are coming along very well.  What I love most is that they know us so well and whenever I go into their stall they start climbing on me and get so excited.  All the animals have taken to us.  Of course we are often the ones who are replenishing their hay and giving them water and whatnot so of course they love us.  But it still feels quite special to get that kind of love back from these animals and it's another reason why we are going to miss them so much.

Oh wait, here's a picture of baby Marcus who obviously slipped away when mama wasn't looking.  

And, oh, have I even mentioned the kittens yet?  Yes there are kittens.  They live in one of the outbuildings and we usually let them out for a few hours in the afternoon and watch them romp around in the grass and confuse the hell out of the guineas and the pygmy goats.  Wicca and Wren are their names and they have been on the farm just a little bit longer than we have so they totally know us as being part of the farm.  Often when we are doing work in that area we'll stop by and see them and they always get so excited and they'll climb on us and play and, well, let's just say that it is really helping to cure our kitty jones.  Of course, it will end up making it that much harder when we leave.

Kittens really are the best things in the world.

There are also the pygmy goats, which I have briefly mentioned.  I don't know any of their names and it is quite possible that none of them even have names.  There are six of them and they are here strictly for grazing.  Their pen gets moved periodically, as the grass needs chewing.  Krissy and I have moved their pens twice in the last two days (two different pens, for different times of the day).  They are contained within pens made up of electric mesh fence.  It looks a lot easier to move than it actually is and trying to work together on it is the only time us Andersons have gotten cranky with each other on this trip, so far.  Granted, we eventually got it right and all was well and forgotten but still I don't recommend it.  

Pygmy dude looks like he would totally bust you up but really all he wants is some grass, man.

There are still more characters on this farm that need discussion and photo evidence but we can do that tomorrow.  Needless to say we are really going to miss this place.  We won't miss the work so much but we will miss everything else.

On a slightly related note, yesterday we took some time in the afternoon and strolled around Mahone Bay.  It is a charming little town with a really nice strip of shops and restaurants right along the water.  We popped into a few shops and stopped for tea and one place and ice cream at another.  We found this amazing place that is a deli, bakery, and ice cream shop, all rolled into one, called Joanne's.  We popped in yesterday and then again today and we got a tasty sandwich and split a Nanaimo bar which is quite a lot of sweet but delicious.  It's a very photogenic town too.

The three churches of Mahone Bay is apparently one of the most photographed spots in all of Nova Scotia.  It's not all that hard to figure out why.  This waterfront is beautiful.

A little bit more of the Mahone Bay waterfront.

Tonight we went into Lunenburg with Heather and Neil to this Indian supper, held at the local community center.  We got there very late and apparently missed several dance demos, a henna workshop, and a sari wrapping demonstration, but we did get there in time for the food, which was catered by the only Indian restaurant around.  It was quite tasty, especially the samosas.  It was nice to be able to hang out with our hosts outside of the farm and farm talk and we had a good time meeting other people there and talking about our trip.  One woman, Sandy, who sat at our table is from Corner Brook, Newfoundland, so she was able to tell us a lot about the west coast of "the rock".  Also, last year she spent a couple of nights in the Skerwink Hostel, which is where we will be working for three weeks in June, so she was able to give us a heads-up on what we should expect when we get there.  It was a very nice evening.

Tomorrow, as I said before, is our last full day here.  We will no doubt get worked pretty hard, since it's their last chance, at least for a bit, to get a lot of those pesky projects done.  Also it is Victoria Day tomorrow, which is a national holiday and, in the same way as Memorial Day is at home, is kind of the kickoff to the Summer season.  There has been talk of meat smoking and a big bbq here tomorrow, which will be a very nice way to end our run here.  Hopefully the weather will hold up.  It has been fantastic this week, perfect weather, but today it got quite chilly and rained a bit and that is pretty much the forecast for the next week.  Hopefully it won't get too in the way of stuff.

So Tuesday morning we will be heading to Halifax.  Those of you who have the itineraries that I passed out will see that we are scheduled to spend one night there.  That has changed.  Krissy was none too pleased with camping in the cold and even though as soon as we left Acadia she bought a space heater for the tent, she decided that she wasn't ready to use it yet.  So our camping reservation in Canso has been cancelled.  We will be staying two additional nights in Halifax at a house that we lined up with Air B&B and then the next night we will stay somewhere around New Glasgow or so and then our last night in Nova Scotia will be at a hotel in North Sydney, right next to the Newfoundland ferry.

It's crazy to think that one week from now we will be in Newfoundland.  Not only that but, after being stationary for a week, it's crazy to think that in the next week we will be staying at five different places and will be seeing so much.  I still marvel at the fact that we are really doing this trip and it is really happening.  There is another part of me that is starting to accept this as being our life and the idea of going back to reality seems next to impossible.  Sure, it has to happen sooner or later, but right now I am a big fan of later.

Speaking of later, it is time for bed. Here it is, your moment of zen:

This is a Polish rooster, bought this week to mate with their poofy-haired Polish hen.  His 1980s Tina Turner hair is not lost on me and every time I see him I break into song.  Bah-caaaawwww ya bettah be good to me.